A Hot Dress
︎︎︎ MK Punky
︎April 6, 2021
When she wore
her favorite sundress on the hottest day of the year
the burning light on her bare shoulders
warned her away from public displays of her pulchritude
should she unwittingly inspire unchecked cupidity
in the pedestrian predators roaming the streets
searching for the faintest sign of whoredom
in women who ought to be saints
Popes Celestine I (422) and Celestine V (1294) were canonized
but Popes Celestine II-IV were merely men
possessing private armies and vast holdings of fertile lands
as well as acute powers of forgiveness
when compensated properly
Would it be an indulgence she wondered
if when no one was looking
she hitched her skirt hem
high on her thigh
white from holy shrouding
never scourged
befitting a Madonna not yet fallen
the burning light on her bare shoulders
warned her away from public displays of her pulchritude
should she unwittingly inspire unchecked cupidity
in the pedestrian predators roaming the streets
searching for the faintest sign of whoredom
in women who ought to be saints
Popes Celestine I (422) and Celestine V (1294) were canonized
but Popes Celestine II-IV were merely men
possessing private armies and vast holdings of fertile lands
as well as acute powers of forgiveness
when compensated properly
Would it be an indulgence she wondered
if when no one was looking
she hitched her skirt hem
high on her thigh
white from holy shrouding
never scourged
befitting a Madonna not yet fallen
MK Punky is the performance alter-ego of Michael Konik, former bass player of the 80s hardcore punk band The Clitboys. The poet laureate of Vista Street Community Library in Los Angeles, MK is the author of 13 books of fiction, poetry and journalism, most recently The Unexpected Guest, a memoir of befriending and housing a homeless neighbor.